HCCF COMMITS TO DOUBLING THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS HELPED

We’re taking the next step in supporting Halton’s Catholic Community in need.

For many of us, it’s hard to imagine not being able to give our children the tools and funding they require to fully participate in their learning journey – let alone the basic necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, eyeglasses, or personal hygiene products. Yet 8.2%* of Halton’s community lives below the poverty line – and this number is higher within specific groups such as women (8.6%), visible minorities (14.4%), single mothers (19%), and newcomers (28.4%).

“Since 2012, Halton Catholic Children’s Foundation (HCCF) has been working to provide funding to those children and families in need in Halton’s Catholic Community,” says Marc Clare, Executive Director of HCCF. “We provide funding for basic necessities, as well as funding to enable students to fully participate in their education – including helping with the cost of trips, team fees, technology, and other learning materials. Sometimes it’s a surprisingly small amount that’s needed to make an enormous difference to a child and their access to a full education.”

Poverty is a barrier to learning success for a variety of reasons, and at HCCF we believe every child deserves the opportunity to succeed.

Poverty can create an achievement gap between students from low-income households and their peers. The ability for a student to fully engage in their learning journey – including technology, trips, teams, and other projects that sometimes require funds to participate – can make an enormous difference in their learning success.

In addition, social exclusion, shame, anger, stigma, low self-esteem, low confidence, and loss of hope are all issues related to student poverty. The ability to fully participate in their education alongside their peers helps to alleviate the mental health challenges that accompany many of our Halton Catholic District School Board (HCDSB) students in need.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished so far – we help approximately 300 students and their families every year. And we certainly couldn’t do it without our generous donors, volunteers, and the staff and teachers at HCDSB Schools,“ continues Mr. Clare. “But we know there is a great deal more to do for these students and their families, and we know we have the ability to achieve more as a Foundation.”

In support of this effort to achieve more, HCCF has unveiled a new name and brand logo that is more aligned with our mission and vision – changing our logo and name to Halton Catholic Children’s Foundation from Halton Catholic Children’s Education Foundation. Along with this renaming and rebranding, we have also launched a new website that has not only been rebranded, but that also offers updated content, navigation, and functionality. The online donation experience is also improved, facilitating simpler one-time or monthly online donations. You can access HCCF online at: www.hccf.ca

Perhaps most importantly, however, we have been working hard to create a new strategic plan that will enable us to double the number of students we support each year by 2024.

“At HCCF, our Mission is to help students succeed at school by providing support to families in need. Our Vision is that all HCDSB students will have equitable opportunities to succeed at school, regardless of financial barriers,” adds Marvin Duarte, Chair of the HCCF Board of Directors. “We are committed to meeting this Vision and succeeding in our Mission, but we cannot achieve this without a clear path to success. That is what our new Strategic Plan provides.”

This new strategic plan for HCCF has four main objectives:

To double the number of students we help to support each year by 2024.
To increase our fundraising by 56% in order to achieve this additional support and the ongoing sustainability of the Foundation.
To generate more awareness about students and their families in need in our Halton Catholic Community and subsequently the work that HCCF does to help these students.
To improve our Board governance and operational processes as a Foundation – enabling us to better serve our community and improve Foundation sustainability, efficiency, and transparency.

“We know we can do more,” finishes Mr. Duarte. “With the continued support of our donors we will reach more families in need so that more students have better opportunities to succeed at school. Working together, we will create a brighter future for all students, and build a stronger community for everyone. After all, our children are our future.”

You can find a copy of our Strategic Plan on our website.

To hear more about our new plan, as well as our mission and vision, check out these videos from: